Curses of Darkness
by Golden-Tailed Hawk
Summary: After the battle, Tigerstar is left to wander the void, where only banished should ever lay their eyes. He has no one, no one to talk to, no one to listen to his regret and sorrow. What is left to be done? *oneshot*


_Enjoy-_

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 _He walks silently, his paws skimming over the smooth floor that he can't see._

 _The darkness and black of the void is obscured by the embers of golden light that glide through the musty air, the air that makes him wrinkle his nose._

 _He hasn't seen any others here. The only thing he has felt is a sense of emptiness and regret, something that does not normally come to him._

 _His dark tabby tail is between his legs, for he knows he has been defeated. He remembers his faults and feels remorse. But it is too late for him to go back._

 _His pawsteps echo and he glares up as a flicker of light dances in front of him. He sees the smooth, dark gray surface that he walks on. And he hears the impossible._

 _Soft, sorrowful pawsteps are coming to him. A flicker of hope like the ones the light his way now enters his heart and begins to spread through his body like soothing honey down the throat after an acrid, smoke-filled fire._

 _He twists his head around and is surprised to see the lithe form of a shadowed cat, pure black head bowed and eyes unseeing and unfeeling._

 _Anger swallows the hope and he glares at the small tom that stands before him. He expects equal hostility, and is surprised when the tom murmurs a quiet remark: "You are the first one I've seen here."_

 _He shifts his weight and looks at the smaller cat. "You've been here a long time then, I suppose?"_

" _Quite a long time."_

 _He looks around, almost wondering if he will see the glow of eyes in the distance. But the world is dark and colorless._

" _Do you forgive me? I know you were the kittypet I attacked long ago." He doesn't know why he is asking, not when he shouldn't care what someone thinks of him. But strange feelings battle his normal personality._

" _In a place like this, we must all get along." the small tom sighs, not looking up._

" _Where are we?" he asks, the flicker of hope slowly coming back to life, like it is a fire poorly sheltered from the rain._

" _The place of banished souls. I hear it in the whispers. Oh, Tigerstar. What will we do?" The small tom's whisper turns into a despairing wail._

" _Scourge.. Is there a way to get out of here?" the dark tabby asks. He lifts his muzzle to scent the air, not for the first time. The scent of an old fox pelt drifts into his nostrils, renewing its pungent odor. He snorts and looks down._

" _No, unless someone comes to get you."_

 _Tigerstar sees that he has given up, that he seems to know there is no hope for him anymore._

 _A howl of white wind sweeps through the air and he presses himself to the ground, trying to sink his claws into something, anything. There is nothing in which to cling._

 _He lets himself be lifted into the dark air and closes his eyes as the hard breeze pushes him away from the only break of solitary confinement he had._

 _He has ended up in an identical place to the one in which he had arrived, a form of torture he supposes._

 _A rusted metal pole spirals into the air, only flecks of its original black coating remains. A glowing crescent light rests in an intricately carved cage at the top of the pole, the most light he's seen here._

 _He closes his eyes and lowers himself to the ground, urging himself to forget about his troubles and sleep. But he can't, for a glowing blue light is obstructing his vision._

 _A light, that cannot be right. He sits up straight as is surprised to see a starry tom approaching, clearly a tom that walked with his warrior ancestors._

 _As the warrior grows closer, he realizes the tom is Firestar. He remembers the scar he gave the former leader long ago, in a tussle after the untimely death of Runningwind. He would remember them anywhere._

 _His voice catches in his throat but the hope is growing stronger. The flames are growing stronger._

 _The fire is put out when he sees the cold in the warrior's glimmering eyes, and he trembles. With regret, with sorrow, with terror._

" _Tigerstar," the great leader meows. "I see you have answered my summons."_

" _W-what do you mean?" he trembles, cursing himself for sounding weak. A part of him reminds him that the time for fighting is over._

" _You know what you've done." the StarClan tom snarls._

" _B-but I'm sorry! You've got to acknowledge that! Please, just let me out!" His voice wavers but Firestar regards him with a disgusted air._

" _It's too late to apologize, Tigerstar. StarClan knew that here would be the best place for you." The ginger tom turns away and the dark tabby tries to ignore the stars that spark upon his paws._

" _Then why have you come?" He forces himself to sound confident, like his old self._

" _To tell you that there is no way of escape. That your remorse is of no use now." There is no pity in the former leader's eyes as he turns away._

" _I never thought I'd get to say goodbye to you for good."_

 _And the StarClan tom is gone._

 _And he is left, crouched on the smooth gray floor, cursed to never see the light of day again._

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Was it good? Let me know.

\- GTH


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